The following references to, and descriptions of, prior proposals or products are not intended to be, and are not to be construed as, statements or admissions of common general knowledge in the art. In particular, the following prior art discussion does not relate to what is commonly or well known by the person skilled in the art, but assists in the understanding of the inventive step of the present invention of which the identification of pertinent prior art proposals is but one part.
Although the invention relates to the use of sterile gloves in a variety of applications, for convenience and ease of explanation, and by example only, the invention will be described herein in terms of its application to the food preparation industry.
It is unknown for people preparing food generally and, in particular, for those preparing food in fast food or take away outlets, as well as those serving, to wear gloves when touching the food. Unfortunately, it appears to also be customary for these same gloves to be worn when handling a purchaser's money and also for preparing food for subsequent purchasers. Accordingly, any hygiene advantages in using such gloves according to such practices are negated.
While this practice is clearly unhygienic, it is understandable that a server should do this owing to the time taken to discard an old glove and replace it with a new glove prior to serving another customer.
Other problems with the prior art are associated with the use of disposable gloves. For example, where they are used in situations where sensitivity of touch is required, they are generally sufficiently thin skinned that they can be prone to failure and can, therefore, be associated with the transmission of bacteria and contaminants. This is especially a problem for dentists, forensic police, medical practitioners, and the like.